Tony Vitello makes admission about Tennessee baseball that Vols fans may not agree with

Tennessee Vols head coach Tony Vitello made an admission about UT baseball this past week that fans on Rocky Top may not agree with. 

The Vols are one of the big “it” programs in college baseball right now. Over the last five years, Vitello has built the UT program into a juggernaut, with multiple trips to Omaha and a 2024 national championship to show for it.

As a result of the recent run of success, many Tennessee fans believe the program is on the same level as LSU. 

Vitello, however, pointed out this past week during an appearance on Fox Sports Knoxville that Tennessee hasn't "done it for as long" as LSU (and Arkansas). 

"When I first got hired, I talked to a buddy who got hired at another SEC school, and he said, 'Let’s both do well at our jobs and go get a better one'. And it kind of took me off guard a little bit because we have all the ingredients at our place to be one of the best programs in the country," said Vitello, a coach who displays humility nearly every time he's in front of a mic. "I appreciate you lumping us in with LSU, and maybe even Arkansas, but we haven’t done it for as long as those guys have. I think everybody is pretty bitter in our building, and we want to prove that we belong in that type of group.

"The fact that (UT AD) Danny (White) has done what he’s done with, basically, compensation, the stadium, the way he’s made everyone feel like this is truly a destination spot, it relieves any conversations of what else is out there? We just focus on who we are and like I said, if you’re looking for a theme we’ve got a lot of people that are unhappy. Last year was a great year, the draft really was an exclamation point for it being a good year. I think the most guys ever [on] day one [of the] draft. But we all want better, just like the fans do. All we can do is work hard towards it and hopefully we prove it.”